I have no credit cards, need 1 or 2

NO SECURED DISCOVERCARD...but you can get a secured card for a deposit of $100...

 

<http://apply2.capitalone.com/3757/1/index.jsp?s=03757001024XXCO11XXXSECUREDXL4>

$99.00 for up to $500.00 credit line.

I don't know about a gold card.

Secured and gold doesn't sound logical.

 

Actually, it's a lot better to have 8 to 10 cards plus gas cards and later department store type cards.

Here is why you want so many.

I use 1 card for 1 week out of the month and keep all purchases on those cards at approximately $50.00 or less. I buy everything I possibly can with the card of the week including groceries, eat out, auto parts, clothes, Wal-Mart type misc. mdse. Every Sunday I change to a new card.

I also use 1 other card during the same week for purchases over $50.00. Again, changing cards each week. There are 5 weeks in some months, so that's why 10 cards.

I never spend more money than I already have the cash to pay all cards off in full when they come due. I use them in rotational order in accordance to their due date. But the money to pay them off with is already in the bank drawing interest for 4 weeks after I have spent the money. I do the same thing with my car payments. Actually, I have enough in the savings account to pay the car off in full at any time, but I want the credit references from paying it off over time. The interest drawn on the money at 5.9% helps lower the cost of the loan.

I do everything possible to keep from paying with either cash or a check. I want it on my credit cards so I earn interest on the money for an additonal 4 weeks (nearly)

You should never ever under any circumstances go for a secured credit card. What happens if you do that is that you are paying them interest for the priviledge of spending your own mooney. There are a lot of cards out there that will take you on with no down payment at all. Some of them want maybe $25 to as much as $40 for a processing fee, but I would never pay more than that under any circumstances.
I would do without first. You want to watch those offers very closely because some of them tell you they are an unsecured card but want some ungodly amount which equals or nearly equals the credit limit on the card. Some of them are real sneaky with that.

As far as your credit being a mess, you can fix that pretty easily. You can either learn how to do it yourself or you can use some service like Junum or Lexington. Lots of people on this board and others like to do it themselves or are trying to learn to do it themselves. Lots of others use the companies to do it for them. There are many reasons for using either method. You just have to figure out which you think is best for you and go for it.

 

Re: I have no credit cards, need 1

Unfortunatly bbauer's advice in this thread won't do you any good. You will need to start with a couple of secured cards.

I would recommend Providian and First Consumers National Bank. They have both been VERY good to me.

I started them both secured a little over 18 months ago at $500 each and have been rewarded with unsecured limit increases to $2200 on FCNB and $2850 on Providian.

Another plus with FCNB is a Spiegel account after about 6 months. They started me unsecured at $850 and I'm now at $2850. This card can also be used at Eddie Bauer.

Good luck and keep us informed on your progress!

I know I was very impatient when I started down this road. All you have to do is dispute negative stuff and build positive stuff and within a couple of years it will get MUCH better.

Mike

 

10 credit cards?

bbauer, what's the purpose of having 10 cards? it looks like a mess, you must keep an eye on different cards, too many. Too many statements and you end up charging less on each one. I would like to increase my credit limits, but if I charge little (relatively speaking) to each one it looks like I'm doing fine (and I'm not, I want more). I would like two or three credit cards with higher limits. You know, creditors also look at the total amount of available credit you have listed on your credit report.
I pay my bills on time but I was told by some creditor that I won't get an increase if they think I have too much credit available. They think that if you have too many lines of credit available you could at some future time run up into unmanageable debt. For example, I closed an account several months ago, but this account shows up on my Equifax report as available credit still, and a lender told me that these inaccuracies in my credit report add to my risk.
My point is that I'd rather prefer a few (3 or 4), the best cards and higher limits rather than 8 or 10 that will lower my chances of getting better deals and higher limits on the cards I prefer. I have 4 prime cards (Visa and Amex) as of today but -I think- low credit limits (I need to work on it).



Thanks for your time.

 

Re: 10 credit cards?

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They think that if you have too many lines of credit
available you could at some future time run up into unmanageable debt.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'M HAVING THAT PROBLEM NOW...FIRST USA RAISED MY INTEREST RATE TO 22.49% BECAUSE THEY DECIDED I HAVE TOO MUCH CREDIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A PERSON THAT HAD PROBLEMS WITH THEIR CREDIT CARD @ 12.90% WOULD HAVE LESS PROBLEMS @ 22.49% ????? (GET A CLUE)...WOULDN'T SOMEONE TRY TO PAY A RATE OF SAY 2.90% AND SAY "EAT IT" TO THE ACCOUNT @ 22.49% ????

THESE ARE THE FACTS...

NEVER LATE
NEVER OVER-LIMIT
NO COLLECTION
NO BK
OLDEST CREDIT CARD 1978
HOUSEHOLD INCOME ~$100,000

WHY WOULD I NOW...ALL OF A SUDDEN MAX OUT ALL MY CARDS, IF I NEVER DID IN 23 YEARS???

 

Re: 10 credit cards?

bbauer, what's the purpose of having 10 cards?
I spoke about the purpose of having 10 cards in my post above. Was I not clear enough somehow?
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it looks like a mess, you must keep an eye on different cards, too many. Too many statements and you end up charging less to each one.

It's not a mess at all in reality. I never carry any more than the cards I am going to use during that specific week.
The rest are kept in clear plastic folders that has 4 pockets per sheet. I keep them in the order I am going to use them in, according to their due dates. I mark the due date on the plastic folder the card fits in, so I never have to worry about the due dates. I never worry about statements either because a couple of days before the card is due, I simply go on line and pay them in full while on their website(s). The amount I owe is always right up to date and I know exactly how much I have to pay. Paper statements are seldom timely and are usually out of date by the time I get them. Mailing the payments is a mess I don't want to fool with and only ends up beating me out of time during which I could earn interest
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I would like to increase my credit limits, but if I charge little (relatively speaking) to each one it looks like I'm doing fine (and I'm not, I want more). I would like two or three credit cards with higher limits.

I'm having no problems with that either. All except one is automatically increasing credit limits when the time comes up for that to happen. I've always gotten increases when the time comes for review of the cards. I've always received decent increases every time.
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You know, creditors also look at the total amount of available credit you have listed on your credit report.

I suppose they do. But they are also smart enough to look at how well you manage your money. If you have large credit limits and are not out there using them to buy all the worlds junk just because it's there, it shows that you have the responsibility to use your money and your credit wisely, not to live beyond your means. Your debt to income ratio is a lot more important than your credit limits. Having a decent imcome and using it wisely, buying only what you need shows much more financial responsibility than having a high limits and paying installments on those debts because you don't have enough money to take care of "small" obligations.
Since I pay all my household utility bills and all my gasoline and all my groceries and quite a bit of restaurant eating as well as clothes and car payments and whatever else on those cards, I'm pretty well pushing the limits all the time anyway. I can easily go through $500 to $1000 per week and usually do, but my income is much higher than that, so I have a very low debt to income ratio. Having a savings account with a fair balance and keeping it there is also important. Some creditors almost insist that you have a savings account with some funds stuck back for a rainy day.
Those kinds of things are what show responsibility.

And anyway, credit cards were never meant to use for larger purchases such as stoves and referigerators and cars. They were designed to use as I am using them, paying them off in full each and every month. The larger items are ideally made with bank loans, store cards, that kind of thing.
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I pay my bills on time but I was told by some creditor that I won't get an increase if they think I have too much credit available. They think that if you have too many lines of credit available you could at some future time run up into unmanageable debt.

If you look like you are too close to your limits, having to make long term payments with nothing saved up for rainy days, then what you say is exactly right. Creditors also look for spending patterns to determine your credit worthiness. They realize that while credit bureau reports give a quick look at one's history, they do not tell the whole story by any means. With higer quality creditors, spending patterns are very important and if the credit report shows you might be basically worthy of the amount of credit you are asking for, they will start to delve into your credit history much more deeply to look for those patterns.
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For example, I closed an account several months ago, but this account shows up on my Equifax report as available credit still, and a lender told me that these inaccuracies in my credit report add to my risk.

I'm quite sure that they do. An inaccuracy on any part of your credit history would tend to cast doubt upon all of it.
It also might lead one to believe that you might not care enough to demand that such inaccuracies be corrected or removed and if you don't know enough to get them removed, you might also not know enough to manage the rest of your finances wisely. I'm around a lot of credit managers all the time, have lunch with them, know them pretty well, and they talk about customers who have applied to them for credit. First one will bring up a customers name and the next one will say "Oh Yeah, he was in my place too. I didn't go for him because yada yada yada" and then they will get to swapping experiences with customers and credit problems and practices. I'm on a first name basis with maybe 20 to 30 percent of those kinds of people in the entire greater Oklahoma City area.
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My point is that I'd rather prefer a few (3 or 4), the best cards and higher limits rather than 8 or 10 that will lower my chances of getting better deals and higher limits on the cards I prefer. I have 4 prime cards (Visa and Amex) as of today but low credit limits (I need to work on it).

If you want to keep down the "confusion" as you put it, four, maybe 5 can work out just as well. Each of us has our own comfort levels in what we do. If you have say 5, and are managing your money and your credit wisely, paying them off in a timely fashion, then who is to say that you are wrong??? Certainly not I.

Have a good one.

 

Re: 10 credit cards?

George, the answer to that is real simple. It's called a feeing frenzy. Credit card companies as well as other creditors use whatever excuse they can invent to increase interest rates, charge extra fees for any silly little thing they can think of. It's their bottom line they are thinking about, not customer service.

They are showing quite plainly that they could care less about their customers.

That strategy may very well backfire on them over time. It's a risky road they are taking indeed. They can get away with it for a while, but if it keeps up, the government will step into the picture and put the clamps to it. Knowledgeable consumers are already trying to move into cards from credit unions and smaller local banks.

They will learn a hard lesson some day.

 

Re: 10 credit cards?

Bill, I've been thinking about your method for a while, and I've decided to form a question. You make and spend more than I do, so my numbers are different than yours -- maybe that makes a non-obvious difference. I spend about $1,000/mo. on chargeable things -- pretty much everything but rent. Using your method I would be floating about 1.5 months of expenses, $1,500, at any given time, right? Kept in a nice safe money market account with a 3% APR I might get as much as $3-4 more in interest per month.

My method is easier: get the Chase Shell card and get 1% back on everything while still having a grace period and no interest payments. My $1,000/mo. in charges therefore equals $10/mo. in rebates. I'm even ignoring the fact that $150 or more is actually spent at Shell and earns 5%. And the fact that I still get half the float effect -- while some of my dollars are only floated for a day some are still out there for 45 days and it adds up to 1/2 of the maximum that you acheive, assuming (fairly, IMO) that purchases are spread evenly.

Now I suppose some of your cards are reward cards so you may get some of the rebate benefits too. But there just aren't that many non-airline reward cards out there. If you fly I guess airline miles are as good as money and you could have all 10 of your cards earning 1% on every purchase. Is that the difference? You might also use your float in more aggressive investments than I, I suppose.

Since I don't fly I only want cash or merchandise I can use as my reward. I don't charge enough to get into the 1.5% bracket on AmEx's cash back card, and I'd lose a lot to the lower brackets of Discover. I could get the Jewel-Osco card (can't remember the bank, but it's 1% back in Jewel gift certificates) and the Chase Toys-R-Us card (1% everywhere, 4% at TRU) if I really wanted to do more floating. I only have $1,000/mo. in purchases to split up anyway, and I'm not as prime as I could be. Any advice?

 

Re: 10 credit cards?

Bill, thanks for your input. I read with great interest your posts -especially your reply to my post. Thanks for your suggestions. I think I understand your point better and now agree w/your posture on this.

Have a nice day!!

 

Re: 10 credit cards?

You make and spend more than I do, so my numbers are different than yours -- maybe that makes a non-obvious difference.

I do spend a lot more than you do, not including business expenses which are so far out of this world, I don't even want to believe it when I see the numbers. But no, I don't think it makes a non-obvious difference.


I spend about $1,000/mo. on chargeable things -- pretty much
everything but rent. Using your method I would be floating about 1.5 months of expenses, $1,500, at any given time, right?
More like 4 weeks.


Kept in a nice safe money market account with a 3% APR I
might get as much as $3-4 more in interest per month.

I get 5.9% APR. That's some difference.

My method is easier: get the Chase Shell card and get 1% back on everything while still having a grace period and no interest payments. My $1,000/mo. in charges therefore equals $10/mo. in rebates. I'm even ignoring the fact that $150 or more is actually spent at Shell and earns 5%.

OK. Can't argue with you on that. And the fact that I still get half the float effect -- while some of my dollars are only floated for a day some are still out there for 45 days and it adds up to 1/2 of the maximum that you acheive, assuming (fairly, IMO) that purchases are spread evenly.

Makes sense to me.

If you fly I guess airline miles are as good as money and you could have all 10 of your cards earning 1% on every purchase. Is that the difference?

No, I do a lot of flying every month. But I almost never fly airlines unless there is some special reason for it such as if I am going alone and there is a need for speed. I can beat airline time anywhere I need to go by a fair amount, but you have to figure those things in terms of cost per seat mile. Anything I fly that will beat airline speeds costs an awful lot per seat mile if you are going to only go alone or maybe with a co-pilot which is usually necessary.
On the other hand, if you are going to load the plane to capacity or near capacity, it's more economical. So mostly, I don't care for airline miles.

You might also use your float in more aggressive investments than I, I suppose.

Except for the interest rate differences, I don't see enough difference to hold a country dance over.

Since I don't fly I only want cash or merchandise I can use as my reward.

Yes, I feel that way too.
. Any advice?
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Well, just keep on doing what you are doing would be the best for you. My comments on how to handle credit cards the way I do is mostly for the people who have little or no credit or simply might not know how to handle credit cards all that wisely. I'm trying to give better ideas for credit card usage than just going out and spending to the max and then ending up in a debt load situation as so many do. I simply want to point out that such is not the way credit cards should be used in the first place.

Your method is likely about as good as mine, but most of those discussion credit cards in this forum cannot get Discover, much less Amex, so your advice would do them little good as I see it. For you and the multitude out there who do have the cards your talking about, your way is most likely just as good, maybe even better than mine.

 

Re: 10 credit cards?

DonThank you.

If I can be of further help to you, let me know.

Most of this stuff is just common sense with a goodly amount of conniving thrown in for good measure at the appropriate times.

No matter what situation one is in, one most definitely needs to learn to listen to one's "gut instincts" and if something don't make sense, your brain usually has some kind of a "nagging doubt" about the situation you are in.

When that occurs, it's an almost sure sign that something just might be rotten in Denmark somehow.

I'm sure you and everyone else has those little nagging doubts about things from time to time. That's just part of being human. Learn to listen to those danger signals when they do occur and stop to try to figure things out for yourself.

Pays big dividends most of the time.

The more you listen to that little inner voice, the better you become in your ability to "feel" the danger signs.
It's something you develop over a long period of time, not something that only some genius guru has.

 

Re: 10 credit cards?

There's the difference: your idea works with any cards that have grace periods. Mine takes one or more "prime" reward cards. It's so true that when you're prime you forget the advantages.

Your advice does make sure people use all their cards but pay them off every month, so it's good for anyone building credit. The only bothersome part is the sheer number of cards. A "sub-primer" will have trouble getting that many no or low annual fee cards. But you point out that it works just as well with 4 cards, and that seems more reasonable.

Hey, I'm still building credit ... I may be prime on a good day but I'll never stop building ... and I wondered over to Epinions to find that there are more reward cards than I knew about ... maybe someday I'll combine your method with all rewards cards and really make some money. (An extra couple dollars per month, but I'm easily excited.)